Tuesday, September 29, 2009

WBCN's 1st reunion brings together former staffers

By all accounts WBCN's 1st reunion party was a smashing success. Stories are still making the rounds amongst the many former DJs, on-air staffers, managers, sales people, interns and many of 600 who shaped the station during its 41 years on the air. The private event was held last Friday night(9/25) at the historic Paradise Rock Club on Commonwealth Ave.

A month and a half after legendary rock station vanished from broadcast radio in Boston, its iconic morning host Charles Laquidara put together an invitation-only reunion. Station staffers have also set up a blog site called WBCN Partywhich features various stories. The photos from last Friday's event can be found here.

BRW Notebook :

Radio karma :WRKO AM 680's afternoon host Howie Carr often takes on elderly drivers who cause auto accidents. He's also an outspoken proponent of re-testing all elderly drivers. But, the AARP crowd probably wasn't too sad to hear about Carr's SUV smashing into a telephone pole this past Sunday as was reported in the Globeand The Herald. Carr wasn't injured. He was on the air the next day. Speaking of possible wrecks, Carr will be chatting with shock comic Andrew Dice Clay who'll be on the air with Carr at 5:30pm this afternoon(Dice is promoting his upcoming concert at Wilbur Theater on Saturday night). Keep your hands on the bleep button, Howie.

Boston's Dick Clark : Billy Costa, the morning sidekick on Kiss 108's "Matty in the Morning" and local TV restaurant pitchman, is getting a big write-up in this month's Boston Magazine.

Easy as Sunday morning : For years, the local radio airwaves on Sunday mornings were filled with the sounds of syndicated Top 40 countdowns and retro oldies shows. But in the past decade, a number of commercial stations have introduced their own locally-produced specialty shows such as "Sunday Morning Blues" on WZLX 100.7FM, "Brunch by The River" on WXRV 92.5FM, "Sunday Morning Jazz" on WMJX 106.7FM, "Sunday Morning Over Easy" on WBOS 92.9FM and "Acoustic Sunrise" on WBMX 104.1FM. These shows have been finding their unique niche in the local market as well as building a local audience that tunes in week after week. Corporate ownership is also paying close attention and in the case of Mix 104.1FM's "Acoustic Sunrise", the show now produces a syndicated version for its sister stations as announced by CBS Radio.

Classical Consolidation at a price : With this last week's big announcement that WGBH Foundation will be acquiring all-classical WCRB 99.5FM and converting it to public radio's non-commercial entry, two things have become abundantly clear : a) blame it on the slow economy, a changing marketplace or any other excuse you can bring to the never-ending classical music debate, but Boston, like most big radio markets, can no longer support a commercially-programmed classical music format on its airwaves. Just like with WBCN, for WCRB this will be the end of an era. b) News, talk and information seems to be where public radio is headed.

In a couple of months, Boston will have two public news/talk formats - WBUR 90.9FM and WGBH 89.7FM. In WBGH's case, it will be from morning to evening, at least for now. Why does Boston need two big public radio stations airing a lot of the same or similar programming between 5am and 7pm? Plus, there's definitely plenty of talk and news of all different variety all over the commercial dial - WBZ AM 1030, WTKK 96.9FM, WRKO AM 680 and WWZN AM 1510. Wouldn't it be more of a public service (after all, this is public radio) if WGBH stayed with current classical format or offered something totally different - say, blues, jazz, soul, R&B, rock or even pop - from 9am to 4pm?

Since the mid 1990's, public radio, more specifically NPR, has been changing, becoming much more influenced by market research and demographic targeting. Public stations across the country have become much more alike, transforming themselves largely into news/talk stations delivering programming from National Public Radio, Public Radio International and other sources including WGBH's own production facilities in Allston.

Back in September 1995, WGBH replaced music with NPR 's "Morning Edition".(The move wasn't taken well by many loyal "Music America" listeners as the popular music program was the casualty in the shift to news programming. "Music America" eventually moved to Plymouth's WPLM 99.1FM where it still airs on weekends). In 2005, WGBH expanded its morning and afernoon news blocks even more. ["Morning Edition" airs on WGBH from 5 to 7 and on WBUR from 5 to 9 a.m. (Both stations repeat all or part of the show, which runs two hours.) "All Things Considered," NPR's afternoon news magazine, airs on WBUR from 4 till 6:30 and on WGBH from 5 to 7 in the evening (except for half an hour of the business news program "Marketplace" which WBUR picks up).

For many public stations, the news attracts more donation dollars, essential for stations that depend largely on listeners for the revenue that buys programming. And, that's a driving force behind WGBH's current conversion to news/talk programming. For a couple decades now, a culture war has raged within the public radio landscape over whether public stations exist to serve the largest possible audience, or to serve smaller audiences whose desires are not fulfilled by commercial radio formats. The maximize-the-numbers crowd has won in most cities, including Boston, accepting the view of public radio's most influential consultant, David Giovannoni, that any station's job is to attract as many listeners as it can.And in the NPR empire, stations are king. Since the mid-'80s, when virtually all federal funding was re-channeled through its member stations, headquarters has increasingly depended on affiliates for revenue. As programming costs have climbed and federal funds plateaued, stations have come to rely on audiences for the largest part of their revenue. At the same time, the rise of audience statistics services like Arbitron have allowed NPR and member stations to target single, core audiences willing to put their money where their ears are. In WGBH's case, paying $14 million to shift its classical music programming from 89.7FM to WCRB 99.5FM to free itself to run news/information programming is definitely a gamble but it's not a pricey one. More important question, will some of those 231,000 weekly listeners who rely on WGBH's booming 100,000 watt signal for classical music be content with a lot less powerful WCRB, provided they can even pick it up in parts of the market where it's really weak?

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Kiss 108's Matty wins his second Marconi AwardWXKS/Kiss 108's legendary morning personality Matt Siegel was named Major Market Personality of the Year at the 2009 National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Awards.The awards, which recognize outstanding personalities and stations in 21 categories, were announced tonight at the 20th annual NAB Marconi Radio Awards Dinner and Show during The NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia. The NAB Radio Show is the largest annual convention for radio. The Marconi's are considered the Oscar-equivalent of the radio industry's honors.This was Siegel's second Marconi award. He won his first one in the same category back in 2001.Finalists were selected by a task force of broadcasters, and winners were voted on by the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Selection Academy.Two other Boston stations were also in the running this year. WEEI AM 850 lost out to WBEB/Philadelphia in the Major Market station of Year category. WMJX/Magic 106.7FM was nominated in the Legendary Station of the Year category but KKOB-AM/Albuquerque took home the award.Dave Ramsey who is heard locally on WBNW AM 1120 won in the Network Syndicated Personality of the Year category. And, Bill Cunningham from WLW/Cincinnati took the honors in the Large Market Personality of the Year. His nationally syndicated Sunday night(10pm-1am) programs is heard locally on WRKO AM 680.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Report : Station's radio contest hits a snagThe Boston Herald reported on Tuesday(9/22) that WKLB 102.5FM's "Dream Wedding" radio contest "has become a nightmare for a Beverly bride-to-be who has put her big day on hold for years to raise her sister’s five sons after their mother died of cancer." The "Dream Wedding" contest was launched on August 3 on the station's website.Listeners had to log on to www.wklb.com to nominate a lucky couple. Four couples were then selected as finalists. After that, it was up to listeners to vote on-line for their favorite couple. The on-line voting ended on Sep. 13. In order to vote, a listener had to register on the site.Last Monday(9/14), WKLB announced the winners - a 37-year old woman from Beverly and her fiance. However, later in the day, the Greater Media-owned country music station determined there were voting problems, leading to WKLB rescinding the prize originally awarded to the couple — a wedding dress, reception for 200 people, invitations, cake, and honeymoon cruise. When the contest was re-judged by "a panel of judges who chose the winning duo based on interviews with each of the couples, their original submissions and listener e-mails", there was a different winner announced last Friday(9/18). The total value of the prize was $37,000.[Ed. Note : As sappy as the Herald made this story out to be, the bottom line here is there was an on-line voting fraud committed and detected. The winning entry was disqualified. End of story? Well, not really. The bigger question here is - did the station have the right to amend its web contest by inserting a panel of judges to determine a new winner? Or, did it have to stick to the original contest rules and do on-line re-vote(minus the disqualified entry, of course)? I don't have the written copy of the rules for the Dream Wedding contest in front of me so can't make a call on this one yet.The Communications Act of 1934 is hardly as engaging as "The DaVinci Code". Still, Section 508 about statutory provisions for contest rules is essential reading for all radio professionals and listeners. Station contests and promotions must be run within the bounds of FCC rules and regulations. Section 508 still gets stations in trouble on the daily basis. Greater Media's other station Magic 106.7 was fined by the FCC earlier this year for failing to disclose how its own "Win A Car" contest would work].

Monday, September 21, 2009

WGBH Boston, the nation's largest public media operation today acquired all-classical WCRB 99.5FM from Nassau Broadcasting Partners . As part of the transaction, WGBH will pay Nassau's creditor Goldman Sachs $14 million to purchase the FCC broadcast license for 99.5 FM, all related transmitting equipment, and WCRB's call letters and Web site. Through the acquisition, WGBH will preserve WCRB's 60-year classical music format.

According to a press release, as a part of the WGBH family, WCRB will be transformed into a 24/7 classical radio station operating on a public broadcasting's business model. In contrast to the current WCRB commercial model, with its reliance on advertising, the public radio model provides for a mix of funding through contributions from members and other individual donors, private foundations, city, state and federal entities and grants, and corporate underwriting.

In a release, WGBH said they will finance the purchase by beginning a special capital campaign donation drive called "Keep Classical Alive" which is now underway on its website.

Friday, September 18, 2009

BRW Notebook :Nothing But U2 : WBCN 104.1FM helped to launch U2 in the US some 30 years ago. The Rock may be gone from Boston airwaves, but some of its former DJ's will still be there when Bono and U2 pull into Foxboro for their Sunday and Monday night shows. Bradley Jay, who signed off WBCN to the sounds of Pink Floyd five weeks ago is now working weekends for classic rocker WZLX 100.7FM. He'll be broadcasting from Gillette Stadium parking lot this Sunday afternoon starting at 3pm. Next door, at CBS Scene, former WBCN midday man Adam 12, who assumed new on-air identity as 'Halloran' as weekend/fill-in jock at WBMX/Mix 104.1FM, will be broadcasting a special 5-8pm preshow. On Monday, WZLX's and Mix 104.1FM's respectve afternoon drive shows(Chuck Nowlin and Gregg Daniels) will also broadcast from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

Other stations playing lots of U2 and having their concert-related on-air promotions in the next couple days include Mike 93-7, WBOS 92.9FM and WFNX 101.7FM. Speaking of WFNX, at Noon on Sunday, the station will present U2's Top100 countdown as voted by its listenersMoney on Imus : Fox Business Network has signed a multiyear deal with Don Imus in which his nationally syndicated "Imus in the Morning" program, heard locally on W TKK 96.9FM, will be simulcast on the channel.

Beginning Oct. 5, the radio program will be seen 6 to 9 a.m. weekdays on Fox Business and continue to be syndicated on the radio by Citadel Media.

Since December 2007, the I-Man had been hanging his familiar cowboy hat at RFD-TV. In April 2007, he was dropped by CBS Radio and cable's MSNBC for making incendiary comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. His final show on RFD was Aug. 28.

FBN's Jenna Lee, Connell McShane and Ashley Webster will continue co-anchoring "Fox Business Morning" from 5 to 6 a.m. and appear frequently on Imus reporting on breaking financial news as well as pre-market action.

B's launch on the Hub : Needless to say most eyes and ears will be tuned in to Pats-Jets on TV and radio this Sunday afternoon, but SportsHub 98.5FMwill also use this weekend to showcase its other local sports property - the Bruins.. The B's first preaseason game arrives to the new flagship this Saturday afternoon as the B's take on the Rangers from the TD Garden at 4pm. SportsHub's will have a 30-minute pregame show starting at 3:30pm(B's only had a 5-minute pregame show WBZ AM 1030 the last few years). Sunday's preseason meeting vs. Montreal will air in-progress following Patriots postgame show on the SportsHub.

In other SportsHub news, the station has has picked up "Football Sunday With Mike Francesa" which is produce by NYC's sister sports talker WFAN AM 660. The show will air at 9am . Francesa's in-season Sunday morning NFL show has been on WFAN since 1987 and includes breaking news from around the NFL, analysis of each week's games and individual matchups, coach and player interviews and listener call-ins, along with commentary.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

WBZ's Dave Maynard inducted into station's Hall of FameA number of local radio legends will be honored when the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame holds its induction luncheon at the Dedham Hilton tomorrow afternoon. But for one of them this week will be even more special.Dave Maynard, 80, who retired from WBZ AM 1030 in June 1991 after 34 years of service was honored by his station this morning. Maynard joined his former on-air colleagues - longtime news anchor Gary LaPierre and sports anchor Gil Santos - as the newest WBZ's Hall of Fame plaque was unveiled out in front of station's building on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton.(WBZ-TV's news report is here)Tomorrow, Maynard, along with former WBCN morning man Charles Laquidara and the voice of NFL's New England Patriots football Gil Santos as well as a number of other legendary Boston radio and TV personalities and managers will be inducted into Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.BRW Notebook :Remembering the voice of the Bruins : Fred Cusick, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Boston Bruins on TV and radio has passed away at the age of 90 earlier today. Cusick called Bruins games on radio(WHDH AM 850 from 1952 to 1963 and WBZ AM 1030 from 1969 to 1971) and television(1963 to 1969, 1971-1997 on Channel 5, 56, 38 and NESN) for more than four decades, beginning his career with radio broadcasts on WHDH AM 850 in 1952. He called Bruins' first local TV broadcast on Channel 5 in 1963. He called Boston's Stanley Cup championship win vs. St. Louis Blues on Mother's Day in 1970(on WBZ AM 1030), when Bobby Orr scored the winning goal in overtime. He would later call that season and that play among the greatest highlights of his career. Cusick moved to television(TV 38) in 1971 and retired from calling Bruins games in 1997(WSBK and NESN. Cusick was scheduled to be inducted Wednesday into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Report : Entercom seeks to bolster WEEI's brand with a move to FM

The real fallout from CBS Radio's new entry - 98.5 The Sports Hub - into the local sports radio fray is only starting to take shape. With 890 ESPN shutting down for good come Monday(BRW 9/14), a much bigger move(or a series of moves) is now apparently in the works by WEEI AM 850's parent owner EntercomCommnications.

According to a published report in today's Boston Globe, the local sports powerhouse and the flagship for the Red Sox and Celtics, WEEI AM 850, is now about to take its game to FM dial.

That is really no big news, at least not in this corner.(Ed. Note : As stated in this space right after CBS Radio made its splashy announcement in mid-July about the upcoming birth of Sports Hub on 98.5FM, it was inevitable that WEEI's programming would find its way to Boston's FM dial sooner rather than later.. Actually, a real surprise in all this is why it took Entercom years to figure which band - AM vs. FM - offers a much better signal coverage and a larger audience pool in the Boston sports-crazed radio market.). Moreover, WEEI's planned shift to FM this fall will be a bit more complex and prolonged than a simple overnight frequency switcheroo/format change engineered by CBS Radio to launch SportsHub this past August. As Chad Finn's report in the Globe indicates, the gradual infusion of ESPN Radio programming will first find its way to AM 850 via weekends and overnights. One assumes that once the Red Sox conclude their regular season schedule on AM 850, WEEI's full on-air content would then move from AM to one of the two Entercom's FM signals in the Boston market - 93.7FM(now variety hits Mike-FM) or 107.3FM(active rock WAAF-FM). From all the indications, WEEI's programming including all its daily shows and Red Sox and Celtics broadcasts will be heading over to 93.7FM where Mike 93.7FM format is currently heard.

For Entercom the move of WEEI's lucrative programming to FM is more revenue-driven than anything else. With a more powerful FM signal, WEEI will have a bigger potential to reach more listeners as it fights off rookie SportsHub 98.5. The more listeners WEEI lures to its brand on FM, the more money it can charge for its advertising time which would add to Entercom's bottom line. And, at the end of the day, it's all about the bottom line for radio managers and owners.

This seems to be a win-win situation for both companies - Entercom and ESPN. WEEI goes to an FM signal which provides better fidelity and reception in some local areas for a broader reach. Meanwhile, in AM 850, ESPN gets a definite upgrade over AM 890 AM's spotty signal, as the nation's top sports media machine will be looking to clear all of its national programming and cross-promote its brand new local digital venture ESPNBoston.com.

BRW Notebook :

TV on radio : Starting Thursday(9/17), Boston's ABC affiliate WCVB TV5 will simulcast its morning 6am newscast and its afternoon 5pm newscast over on WWZN AM 1510/Revolution Boston as reportedby the Boston Globe. WCVB can also be heard on Lowell's talker WCAP AM 980 from 5am to 6am and 5:30pm to 6:30pm. For the past couple of years, WBIX AM 1060 has been simulcasting New England Cable News from 8pm to 10pm weeknights.

Talk this way to FM? : With the migration of WEEI to FM, it's likely that one or both Entercom's FM formats may now be in jeopardy. Blast.com is speculatingthat rocker WAAF 107.3FM will be the one to go. (Ed. Note : However, don't expect WEEI to move to 107.3FM as Blast.com is speculating. More likely, Entercom will abandon programming on antiquated AM dial altogether. The theory here is this : WEEI moves from AM 850 to 93.7FM and WRKO AM 680's issue-talk programming jumps to FM band on an existing(107.3FM or 97.7FM) or possibly another soon-to-be acquired FM outlet. Entercom would retain WAAF 107.3FM's Greg Hill Morning Show which is a basically a talk show on a rock station(WAAF plays no music between 6 and 10am) to launch a new all talk 24-hour talk on FM. Howie Carr, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage would likely fill out the rest of the WRKO-FM schedule. What do you think? Leave a comment below. AM 680 and AM 850 frequencies would then either be sold off or leased out).Are you ready for some football on the radio? : There will be two options for Sunday morning local radio shows during the Patriots' season – rookie spots talker SportsHub 98.5FM which takes over from now-defunct WBCN 104.FM as the club's flagship station and WEEI AM 850.

This week, WEEI announced that its game day football programming line-up will kick off this Sunday(9/13) with the first airing of the "NFL Sunday" pre-game show airing 9am-noon with Dale Arnold, Michael Holley, former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria and WEEI.com's blogger Chris Price. After a 3-year absence, Arnold returns to the show that he launched on WEEI in 1991. Doug Brown(2006), Greg Dickerson and Butch Stearns(2007) and Mike Felger(2008) were hosting WEEI’s NFL Sunday for the past three years.

Over on the Patriots’ flagship, 98.5 the SportsHub, the three-hour pregame will still be in effect as Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak, Pete Brock and Andy Gresh return as co-hosts. For the scheduled nine 1pm games, the Sports Hub’s flagship coverage will start at 10am, one hour after NFL Sunday kicks off on WEEI

WEEI’s "The Real Post Game Show" with Pete Sheppard, Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie is returning this weekend and will run immediately following Patriots games. Meanwhile, SportsHub will run the 3-hour postgame wrap-up show with Tanguay, Zolak and Gresh.Yea, yea, yea all day : The height of their fame has passed, but the Beatles' songs were in high rotation again this past Wednesdya. Boston stations catering to the baby boomer listening segment WROR 105.7FM, WZLX 100.7FM and WODS 103.3FM were playing lots of Fab Four all day coinciding with the launch of the group's remastered catalogue of 14 albums. Even Mike 93-7 joined on the action throwing a few Beatles tunes here and there. Meanwhile, WROR 105.7FM went all-Beatles all day as Boston Radio Examiner points out.

The Honor Roll : This coming Wednesday(9/16) at Noon, Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame will hold its 3rd annual induction ceremony. The event will take place at Dedham Hilton and will be hosted by WBZ AM 1030's talk personality Jordan Rich. This year’s event honorees include: The Voice of Boston Bruins Hockey, Fred Cusick; TV pioneer, host, interviewer and innovator Bill Hahn; the nation’s first nightly news cultural reporter and women’s movement trailblazer Sonya Hamlin; one of the most respected and distinguished television news journalists in New England, John Henning; legendary rock radio deejay and activist Charles Laquidara; prominent public affairs director, news director and host Don Latulippe; 48-year WBZ personality Dave Maynard; radio manager and multi-station CEO Allan Roberts; host, newswoman and executive editor of WGBH TV’s Greater Boston, Emily Rooney; esteemed radio voice of the New England Patriots and morning sports anchor on WBZ radio Gil Santos; renowned broadcast consultant and radio station owner Al Tanger and revered classical, jazz and elevator music host Len Zola. More information on this event is at www.massbroadcastershof.org

Thursday, September 10, 2009

WAMG to end all-sports formatAfter more than four years, the all-sports format on WAMG AM 890(and simulcast on Lawrence's WLLH AM 1400) known as 890 ESPN, will go off the air in the next couple days according to reliable sources. Station's local staffers were notified yesterday(9/9) about the end of the sports format.The station, owned by investment firm Waller Sutton, will introduce a brand new format on Monday(9/14). In early 2005, the CT-based company backed the local investor entity J Sports headed by station's former president and GM Jessamy Tang, acquired WAMG AM 890 for $9 million from Mega Communications. The station's ownership signed a licensing deal with ESPN Radio and turned it into an all-sports talker in late July 2005. When the station first launched four years ago, its major local daily attraction was afternoon drive program hosted by well-known sports media personality Michael Felger. But when Felger jumped back to WEEI and WEEI.com last July, ESPN 890's future became cloudy(BRW 7/13/08). Rest of ESPN 890's programming was filled with ESPN's national talk shows as well as play-by-play coverage of college football, MLB and NBA, but with the less than stellar AM signal coverage, no major local play-by-play connection, the longtime dominance of WEEI AM 850 and recent launch of the SportsHub 98-5(backed by a powerful FM signal), it was just a matter of time before 890 would be forced out of the of the local sports radio game.With WAMG AM 890 dropping sports, where does ESPN Radio programming land on the Boston dial? Disney-owned sports behemoth is set to go live with the brand new hyperlocalESPNBoston.com site come Monday(9/14) but there's been no word as to which local station is going to pick up ESPN Radio affiliation status. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

WTKK celebrates 10 years as Boston's FM talker

September 7th marked the 10th anniversary of Braintree-based Greater Media's crowning big idea: the conversion of smooth jazz WSJZ 96.9FM into Boston's first all-talk FM radio station - WTKK 96.9FM. The FM talk format has survived and to some extent established itself as a big player in Boston radio, despite some spasms of change, unwanted publicity and programming setbacks that included sudden departures and eventual returns of morning man Don Imus and afternooner Jay Severin, botched attempt to land Howie Carr from rival WRKO AM 680 as well as the change of program directors.

When the FM talk format signed on September 7th, 1999, the station still had WSJZ call letters with the line-up that featured smooth jazz after 6pm for the first week or two(Don Imus 5:30-10am, Stacy Taylor 10am-2pm and Jay Severin 2-6pm). Today's line-up includes Don Imus(6-9am), Michael Graham(9am-Noon), Margery Eagan and Jim Braude(Noon-3pm), Jay Severin(3pm-7pm), Michelle McPhee(7pm-10pm), Curtis Sliwa(10pm-1am) and Phil Hendrie(1am-5am).

Greater Media's press release on WTKK's 10th anniversary is here(Ed. Note : Surprisingly, the release has no mention of former PD Paula O'Connor who guided WTKK from September 1999 to May 2007).

BRW Notebook :Rookie of the year : Brand new sports talker SportsHub 98.5's night guy Damon Amendolarais getitng some good early grades and praise. And, deservedly so. As mentioned here before, this draft pick has really worked out well.

New Latin format enters : After nearly three years of simulcasting WKOX AM 1200/Rumba 1200, sister station WXKS AM 1430 had adopted a new format last week. WXKS AM is still featuring Latin music but under the new programming handle - "Mia 1430". The two-station Rumba simulcast had become unnecessary after WKOX launched its new 50,000 signal in early spring(BRW 4/21). With WKOX's 50,000 signal overlapping WXKS AM 1430's area of coverage, the stations owner Clear Channel opted to pull Rumbas off AM 1430 and added one of its "Premium Choice" Spanish-language formats called "Mia" which is geared toward a younger audience. Reportedly, the advertisers who buy time on Rumba also get to have their spots heard on Mia.

What's the frequency, dude? : Thursday's(9/10) release of August ratings(7/23-8/19) will be more important for the 'other' rock stations(WFNX, WAAF, WBOS, WXRV,etc) than for the two sparring sports stations. Arbitron's 4-week monthly ratings report includes a full week(8/13-8/19) *without* WBCN 104.1FM. Where did the Rock's audience go? Your guess is as good as The Boston Radio Examiner's which has WFNX 101.7FM looking to capitalizeon WBCN's demise and making its claim for The Rock of Boston throne. And, in the name of shameless self-promotion and just in time to welcome back 250,000 college kids from NY, NJ and CT, WFNX is making its Disorientation 2009 a free event this year.

As for WEEI and SportsHub's friendly pillow fight(Ed. Note : Still can't get over WEEI and SportsHub on-air personalities civily debating each other on Comcast Sports New England's TV set every weeknight. Is this really an old-fashioned radio war?! Please.), a full month of ratings will be a true indicator of SportsHub's initial impact.